Den a lair of wild beasts (Psalms 10:9; Psalms 1:104; Job 37:8); the hole of a venomous reptile (Isaiah 11:8); a recess for secrecy "in dens and caves of the earth" (Hebrews 11:38); a resort of thieves (Matthew 21:13; Mark 11:17). Daniel was cast into "the den of lions" (Daniel 6:16, Daniel 1:6). Some recent discoveries among the ruins of Babylon have brought to light the fact that the practice of punishing offenders against the law by throwing them into a den of lions was common.